Christmas Day

Wow! What a Christmas we had! If it wasn't for the fact that all our family wasn't here with us it would have been a perfect day. Surprisingly, the girls didn't wake up until almost 10 o'clock and so we all had a good rest. Santa came and left a few presents for us all and it was a nice relaxing morning with no rushing around. Viktor came to pick us up and he arrived early bringing a fresh cut Christmas tree with him! What a surprise for us! After we would come home from the party we would decorate the tree and the girls were so excited about this. So off we went to the Freeland's (Butch and Dawn's) and on the way there it started to snow! What a special thing for us to make it seem a little more like it was really Christmas. We were dropped off near the Center to pick up some cookies and chocolates and bread to bring to the party. And what a wonderful walk we had with it snowing the whole way. We arrived at Butch and Dawns' and were welcomed SO warmly by everyone there. It was just a beautiful apartment and a wonderful atmosphere and we felt like we were surrounded by old friends even though we just met. The Becker's came as well and I know Natasha was thrilled with this by all the smiles she had for them and I know she was happy there would be someone else to talk to at the party. We sang a few Christmas carols and played a fun game then had a wonderful Christmas meal. It hasn't been since the Becker's dinner that we have had a home cooked meal and it was such a blessing. After dinner there were presents for all! And the girls received new socks which were stuffed with candy and hair clips. They also got beautiful mittens and a puzzle. What a special blessing Butch and Dawn are. They made us feel so at home and all the things they did for us and the children were just so wonderful we could never thank them enough!
We then said our goodbyes and headed back to Lela's and picked up some construction paper and phone cards on the way. When we got to Lela's the girls eagerly waited while Papa tried to poor rocks into a bucket for the tree to hold it up. This took awhile as the rocks had been sitting outside in a bucket and the bucket accumulated water in it and the rocks had become all frozen together! Papa got the job done, however, and the decorating begun. I was so thankful for this time because before we left for Ukraine we put up our tree but I was wishing we could have had Natasha with us to help and this was just another added blessing for us today in decorating the tree together with her. Natasha had so much fun with the tree that she decided to decorated Papa as well! He looked very pretty when she was finished with him and even had a candy cane placed in his mouth. We then made some ornaments of our own from the construction paper we picked up on the way home. It gave the tree just the right touch and was fun to add a remembrance for Lela.
Then the best part of the day came at 8 o'clock when we were able to use Michelle's phone to call home. We called Babushka Lennard's and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. Natasha even got to talk to a few of her new relatives and did quite well understanding them all! It was a blessing to hear all their voices and a great present for us to end the day with. The girls are up watching a movie with Michelle and Lisa and then it will be time to turn in for another busy day tomorrow.
Another added blessing today as we wrapped up the day. Tonight was the first time Natasha prayed out loud during bed time prayers : ) She was SO excited tonight and was bouncing off the walls we have never seen her quite like this and how wonderful it was for us to see her SO excited about everything. She told Michelle she needed to get to bed so she could pray for Nastia and her friends; her brothers and sisters and her babuskas and dodrushka(sp?) and that's just what she did! She said it all in Russian and we understood every beautiful word. Thank You Jesus for this blessed day You have given to us who are so far from home. We had such a wonderful day and this ending was the icing on the cake.
We had a great Christmas and were so blessed by everyone who was a part of our day near and far. We hope you all have just as blessed a Christmas day as we have had here.
MERRY CHRISTMAS : )

Pictures are of the girls with their stockings; view from the Freeland's balcony of the wonderful snowy day; decorating Papa; making ornaments; calling home and a family photo